Long-Term Updates - November 2010

Go Ahead-Ask Us!
What do you want to know about? Is there something we tried out in the pages of this magazine that you would like to know more about? Send an email to jerrod.jones@off-roadweb.com and we'll make sure we get you an answer.

ARP Header Bolts
We were really curious about these ones ourselves, as header bolts always seem to back out after all the highway and dirt miles we put on our trucks. We can usually accomplish a pretty good exhaust leak on almost any off-road vehicle, and the headers on this 5.9L Magnum V-8 were no different. Except now it isn't the ARP bolts-they're holding steady. Now that the headers are stuck to the engine, the bolts down on the driver-side collector are backing out. Perhaps we'll have to call ARP back about some bolts for the collectors, too.

Purple Cranium Diff Covers
It's hard for a non-moving piece of steel to not perform as expected. But just in case you thought that the tubes on these Purple Cranium diff covers were hollow, we'd like to show you where a few boulders have nailed the front one on our fullsize Cherokee project, Matilda. Not only are they strong and good looking, they bolt on without having to take the stock diff covers off, too.

SSBC Big Bite Kit
We put a set of Stainless Steel Brake's Big Bite pad-and-rotor kit onto one of our test vehicles about 50,000 miles ago. The truck did a lot of freeway driving, but we're still impressed that we're only about halfway through the brake pads' life. We were able to put a little bit of a warpage on one or both of the front rotors and we found a couple cracks, but the SSBC equipment held up way better than the factory stuff.

Rubicon Express ZJ Suspension
About a year ago we bolted on a standard lift suspension from Rubicon Express. It came with upper and lower front and rear arms, coils, and shocks. The joints are still holding fine, but the owner of this 5.9L Grand Cherokee decided that the nitrogen-charged shocks that we got (as an upgrade option) were too stiff for his taste, and he switched to a twin-tube shock instead. OR